Golden Twine
by PurpleSpring
Summary: Evelyn Carte is a talented witch, a hot-headed women with a lot to say, and has a long lost past that will ultimately save her or damn her. It is only with the help of Harry Potter that she can save the Wizarding World and discover who she truly is.
1. Water Under the Bridge

_There are times meant for breaking__  
__And words to ignore__  
__And a bent to our souls__  
__When our skin is at war__  
__If leaving were freedom__  
__Well, we'd both walk right out of that door__  
__Maybe we can stay__  
__'Til the last drop of water flows under the bridge_

I hummed a little while I strolled down Diagon Alley, attempting to keep away from my parents as far as possible. They were muggles, they had no idea what to do with the streets filled with witches and wizards, dressed in all sorts of magical finery. Someone passed by wearing bright teal robes, and my mother looked all but ready to faint when he got too close to her. It made me chuckle a little bit, but that was cruel. Or at least it sort of was. My parents were too skittish to ever really get used to this Wizarding World stuff.

"Hey Evelyn!" I spun when I heard my real name. I frowned, expecting to see someone like Pansy Parkinson in the small alleyway where my name had been yelled from. Instead, a petite blonde girl wearing relatively hip robes was leaning up against the side of a building, smiling mischievously. I smiled and sauntered towards her.

"Oh hey Lindsey. I thought you weren't going to recognize me," I responded, smiling at Lindsey. She was my rock at Hogwarts, probably the only thing that kept me from blowing my brains out. She understood my frustration being stuck in a school that stifled any creativity and any sort of question of authority. Honestly, most muggle schools let you have some freedom. So why didn't witches and wizards get any?

"Well regardless of you being stuck halfway around the world this summer, I'm still your best friend," She reminded me, quickly bring her hand to her face to shield her aquamarine eyes from the sun. I grabbed my Ray-bans from my pocket and shoved them on her face. I've never seen her look so grateful.

"I like Australia," I responded, tucking a lock of sun-bleached brown hair behind my ears. My hair turns from dark brown to golden brown every summer. Saying goodbye to my golden hair was another shitty thing about the end of summer.

"Yeah well Australia is too expensive to visit, even for the daughter of a Ministry employee." She paused to take the sunglasses off and began to walk away from the building. I followed behind her, not really caring where my parents were. "It may help your tan, but it sure as hell does not help our wonderful line of communication."

I shrugged. "You didn't miss much. My last letter in July pretty much covered everything."

"Aaron dumped you over a month ago Evelyn. It's time to stop mourning," She said, and then paused in the middle of the street. "Like with him." She pointed at Draco Malfoy, who'd appeared before us with startling speed. I hadn't even noticed him. He was about halfway down the street, staring straight at me.

"It's not like that with him—" I was cut off by a hand suddenly appearing on my wrist. Within seconds I was pulled into apparating out of Diagon Alley…to somewhere that I'd never seen before. I thudded down onto a dark wood floor, feeling a little queasy after the nonconsensual trip.

"Evi!" A voice called out from somewhere next to me, trying to wake me up. It wasn't until then I realized that I was unable to see at the moment. It took me a solid minute to be able to sit up, and then with a final force of strength I pried open my eyes. I attempted to comprehend the scene around me—I was in a gothic looking living room, one with a large bay window exactly across the room from me. I turned forward again, but instead of seeing anything inviting, I saw a large portrait of a man frowning down on me. The best part of all of this was that I was planted in the center of the room. With everyone in the room staring down at me. There were only about six people in the room, but they all looked a little embarrassed at my crash landing. I was kidnapped. What did they expect?

"Evi, are you alright?" The same voice from before called out. I turned towards the place where I heard the voice from. There was Draco Malfoy, being restrained by some sort of gargantuan thug. I shook my head, trying to comprehend everything. But my mind was still moving too slowly—I couldn't really process where I was or what was going on. And who were these people looking at me?

"Draco…" I said without really meaning to. "Draco where am I? Why am I here?" I tried to make more syllables come out of my mouth, but instead I lost control of my body and slumped over. My consciousness faded out once more as I heard footsteps and more people move toward me.

I awoke from unconsciousness in what seemed like days. I heard murmurs of what was around me. It seemed there were two people standing near me, whispering about something I couldn't really make out.

"…this is really our hope…"

"…no we'll…we'll trust…"

My senses were finally returning to me. I could feel my toes and my fingers again, and my head was no longer as fuzzy as it was when I'd woken up in the living room. Sound became clearer again and I felt alive. But I knew it was unwise to open my eyes. So I stayed still.

"We've been gifted with something magnificent here. She can't kill him, but she can trap him. She's what we needed. She's our only way to get him."

"But we can't put all our faith in this girl. She barely passes for a witch…"

I opened my eyes suddenly, anger filling my body. I was a damn good witch. Just because I fail to follow the rules 100% of the time does not mean I was a horrible witch.

There was a sudden shift in the feeling of the room.

"Seems like our conversation is no longer private," One of the voices remarked incredulously. I struggled to see into the corner, but I suddenly realized I was glued down to the table I was lying on. There were invisible barriers around my arms, I knew it.

"Don't struggle too hard." One of the voices spoke from the blackness, now coming nearer to my body. I was paralyzed against the metal table, unable to even move my head, so it was impossible to see who was now standing behind me.

"Since you asked so nicely," I retorted, feeling a little temperamental. I never really did well in the aspect of respecting authority.

In a sudden flash of black smoke, a tall, opposing figure appeared in front me. His red, beady eyes shown through porcelain white slits in the center of his face, surrounded by multitudes of wrinkles. His face was as white as the crescent moon and his flattened nose came into what looked like a beak. Slowly I formed an idea that frightened me to such a degree I couldn't stand. The person standing before me was…

"Lord Voldemort." He finished my sentence before I could even really form it inside my head. "I knew you'd recognize me. Now do you seem more inclined to show me respect?"

I immediately froze under the restraints and pushed my head as far onto the table as possible in order to avoid nearing his face. It was almost like he was reaching into my soul and trying to pull it from my body with merely his eyes. I nodded imperceptibly at his question, not necessarily conscience of the fact that I had power over my own body.

"Master I think it best we inform the girl before she becomes too frightened to yield to our request." This voice appeared from the left hand side of the room, but the figure was still in the dark. I thanked God for him though, because I felt faint simply being in the presence of Lord Voldemort. Every inch of my body slowly relaxed as Voldemort apparated away, but his cold presence still left my body whirring with worry.

The other person in the room emerged from the shadow of the back room, revealing that it was not a stranger but rather Severus Snape, the potions teacher at Hogwarts. I frowned, letting it register in my mind that he was there. Wasn't he loyal to Dumbledore? But I was careful to not let anything show on my face. Nothing affected me.

"Let the girl sit up Wormtail," Lord Voldemort called from the other part of the room he'd vanished to. It felt slightly better that he was not in my sight, but that same fact also seemed to be even more threatening.

Before I knew it was being propped up on the metal table, forced against the wall, and yet still totally unable to control any of my limb movements. But then the invisible ropes seemed to fall off, and I was finally able to move my appendages. I scrunched my hands up, trying to get the feeling back in them because they were insanely sore now.

"Sorry about the restraints, Evelyn is it?" I nodded as Voldemort moved in front of me once more. "We do that because people are generally startled when they wake up in this room. They have a tendency to try to escape," He commented, slowly moving across the room. He snapped his fingers and a small, short man ran out of another dark corner and lit the fireplace behind Voldemort. I hadn't even realized there was a fireplace in the room before he lit it. But now the dark shadows had been chased out of the room and I could see we were in some sort of run down bedroom, with moldy, chipping wallpaper lining the walls and decrepit wood molding lining the top of the surrounding walls. It was certainly not a very pleasing room.

"I won't try to escape," I responded, trying not to sound too scared. I was usually not afraid of anything. But this—him—I was shivering I was so frightened.

"You're a smart girl, I know you won't." Voldemort attempted a smile, but instead it looked like he was merely baring his pointed, razor sharp teeth.

"So, Evelyn, there's a reason I brought you here today," Voldemort began, once more taking a place in front of the fireplace. "I have something to ask you."

I shivered. I knew this would be bad.


	2. A Mission

The room felt saturated with a damp smell. I shook off the feeling of cold to look the Voldemort guy in the eyes. Bad decision. That just made me want to faint again. I forced myself to pay attention, putting his scary holiness out of my mind.

"What do you have to ask me—," I paused, not knowing what to say next, "Lord Voldemort?" There we go. I couldn't grasp the concept of not just calling him that asshole who kept trying to break apart the wizarding world.

He smirked. Snape chuckled in the corner. I just want to punch him in the face. But I knew my body would fail me. And any movements caused the restraints to tighten. Great. My mind flashed back to all the times I sat in Professor Snapes classroom, being angered by his weighted marks against Gryffindors and how his potions class was impossible. I was a decent chemist, but not with that asshole. My mind kept trying to scamper around my current reality, but my chest tightened when the fabric strips tightened. I guessed he was using occlumency and could tell I was not paying a bit of attention.

"Very smart girl," Voldemort breathed into my ear, suddenly being right next to my side. I tensed. His breath was so hot and sticky. Vom.

"Can you please just ask me the question?" I muttered, knowing I was being impatient. Whatever. If he wanted to be an asshole he could be. I just wanted to get out of here and get back my life. But I'd spoken too soon. With a flip of his arm the world around me turned red and fire and raised my body temperature but what felt like a million degrees. I screamed, feeling as if my body was being torn apart by fire. Finally, some miraculous force broke through and tore apart the wall of fire that seemed to surround my body. I gasped for air, realizing I hadn't breathed in what felt like hours. My body was suddenly so weak.

"Are you going to get impatient with me again, little girl?" Voldemort demanded, his voice slithering into my mind. I limply shook my head. I didn't have the strength to complete such a task again. "Good."

The room came back into view again, worn out bricks with a slimy green coating. Voldemort was across from me, this time looking more serious. I breathed out, expecting his question to be something along the lines of how I'd like to die. At this point I just wanted anything quick. But Voldemort was always less than empathetic. "You have quite a strong spirit now don't you girl?" He questioned while his bright red eyes burned. I gulped and nodded. I didn't believe that was his question.

"Voldemort the girl is right. Get to the matter at hand," Snape interjected. I wanted to thank him but I just didn't have the strength. Voldemort seemed a little bit peeved by this as well.

"In due time Snape. The girl needs to know the power she has." Voldemort looked directly at Snape and then at me. What power did I have?

"You're a powerful witch aren't you?" He demanded, fixating on me. Oh, that made me uncomfortable.

"I'm not—I'm not the best," I stuttered, not knowing how to answer that question.

"No no no, don't be modest child, you are quite a talent. You have few rivals in your class," He continued, knowing my performance almost far too well. I was astounded by his knowledge of any of my feats.

"I guess so. Really, it's not a huge matter…"

"Oh but is." Voldemort finished for me, slowly moving once again and moving closer and closer to my bed. "You see I have a task for you. One that is difficult and requires someone with so much-," He took a moment. "Power."

I shook my head. "You're looking at the wrong girl. I'm a muggleborn. I'm not an excellent witch. I'm nothing great. Why-,"

"Enough, enough!" Voldemort called, throwing his hand into the air and instantly my mouth flew shut. "I know you do not believe but you have something inside you Evi. Something great. And… Something I need." His voice was suddenly tender. And his face was suddenly so close to mine I could see the minute white scales painted along his face. He no longer looked like a man. Just a carnivorous reptile.

"What… what do you need?" I trembled, afraid of the answer. Voldemort smiled and shook his head, thankfully moving away from my body.

"It is not something we can, so to speak, acquire," Voldemort responded seeming almost disappointed by this. He took his place next to Snape again and once again looked directly at me. "However we can harness it." 

"Well… What do you want to do with it?"

This next moment in my life seemed to last forever. Something about his disgusting red eyes and mangled face looking that gleeful seemed to spell disaster for my life. I shouldn't have asked that question. I needed the answer, but it entirely destroyed me. The words were impossible.

"You're going to kill someone with it. You're going to kill Harry Potter."


	3. The Aftermath

In a moment's notice I was sent spiraling back to Diagon Alley, my body being pulsed and ripped in every direction. The last bit of my conversation with – the Dark Lord – pulsing through my head.

"_You will kill Harry Potter."_

"_Why me? Why now? Isn't that your mission?"_

"_Draco Malfoy trusts you Evelyn. You've been bestowed with great magical talent and you will in fact be able to do the deed I always needed of you. Are you with me?"_

I had no choice. This was the Dark Lord, the one who had enslaved half of the magical world and ran into darkness. There was no way I could say no to him.

I finally felt my feet touch the ground, which seemed to effectively lodge my body back into place. Lindsey shrieked with delight from some unknown corner of the alley, and swiftly tackled me.

"God what the hell?! You scared the shit out of me. Where did you go?!" Lindsey fired at me, every question coming a little to fast for me to even understand. My mom hurdled from behind a warlock wearing a bright purple robe, seeming almost too flustered.

"Evi are you all right?! God we were so worried –,"

"I'M FINE!" I shouted, brushing them off of me. I swear I could still feel the metal etching into my skin, but I quickly covered that up with my long robe so my mom and Linds couldn't see. "It was just some practical joke put on by those Weasley twins." I looked at Lindsey and my mom, to be assured that they believed me. They looked unconvinced. "Trick brick." They frowned and I shook my head. "It doesn't matter."

It was in that moment I saw Draco staring at me, pensively eating one of his green apples. I nodded as a sign I would be over in a second. "Look Lindsey?" She alerted to me all of a sudden, thankfully taking her eyes off the supposed trick brick I'd stepped on. "Can you take my mom along to the potions shop? I just remembered I have to tell Draco something."

"We can go with you -," Lindsey interjected, but I stared her down with the _"Help me out as a friend" _look. She nodded and sighed, obviously worried I'd be pulled out of thin air once more. "Fine, I'll take her along."

"And be careful Evi," My mom said sternly, still eyeing where I was going. She hated the Wizarding World enough already without her daughter disappearing. But Lindsey and my mom were closer than even my mom and I, so they struck up a conversation and thankfully got the hell out of my hair.

I checked the alley, making sure it was relatively free from eyes. I then bolted over to the overhang where Draco was perched, eyeing his apple like it was the victim of his latest hunt. I then proceeded to be very unladylike and pushed him up against the wall, forcing him to toss his and apple and get slammed against the door a little bit harder than I intended.

"What the fuck was that?!" I whisper screamed at him, still grasping his body.

"Shit!" He exclaimed finally, pushing me off him and reeling backwards. "Goddammit Evelyn are you trying to kill me?"

"Are you trying to kill me?!" I demanded, letting my voice reach a shout. Draco's eyes bolted upwards, suddenly seeming to grasp the weight of the situation. He finally righted his lanky figure into an upward position, and readjusted his robes so they could be just perfect.

"Come on. Something like this shouldn't be discussed in public."

Draco led me into the back room of Borgin and Burkes, where supposed inventory was kept. Instead, the room was lined with dark mahogany tables and shoddy paper lanterns, suspended and illuminated by magic. The room felt dark and damp as the light produced was so small, and the chill almost never seemed to leave this whole building.

"Where do we sit?" I asked, my voice quiet in fear of who was listening. 

"Anywhere," Draco responded, choosing the closest table and setting his jacket on top of it. He quickly summoned a fire and let it burn, if only to warm the chill in the room. "Dead of summer and its still colder than bloody Antarctica in here." I chuckled warming my hands on the flame. "Now tell me Evi, what happened?"

I frowned, looking down at my hands. "Drac…. You told them. You told them about my powers didn't you?"

Draco looked away, squinting his eyes.

"Why Draco?! They found me. _He_ found me."

"You spoke with the Dark Lord?" Draco asked, his eyes lighting with the same fire as the one below our hands. I did not necessarily appreciate the excitement in his voice.

"Yes Draco. He wants me to kill Harry Potter."

The silence stuck in the room for the while, floating over the both of us. Draco was obviously upset. I was upset. What a great way to ruin a friendship, turning your usually talented friend over to the Dark Lord.

"I—I didn't realize he'd give you something so -,"

"Impossible? Draco it's impossible. Whatever magic Harry Potter has around him cannot be broken. Especially not by me. Why would they give me this job?" I pleaded, becoming desperate. This situation really really sucked.

"Evelyn, you need to know something," He paused. I waited, hating this. Draco had been my source of comfort all summer, the only person I'd written to. He'd listened to me, told me about his parents and their unhappiness, and listened to my hatred of my house and the continent I was forced to live on. But then Draco interrupted my thoughts once again. "I didn't give your name to Voldemort." My eyes bulged.

"Then who did?" I asked, my voice trembling.

"Evi, I honestly don't know. Voldemort asked me what I thought of you, how I felt -," His voice broke a little, his eyes squinting shut and his head hanging. I reached for his cheek and stroked it, smiling at him. There was the Draco I knew. He raised his eyes, the green pools of light I'd come to cherish, stared into mine, more troubled than ever. "If I would've known what it meant -,"

I shook my head. "It's not your fault," I muttered, smiling back at him. He was pretty cute, if you could look over the whole in communication with the Dark Lord thing. He reached his hand over mine, and began to stroke it. It was in that moment though that I understand why Draco would be communicating with the Dark Lord. On his left arm there was a dark tattoo, one of snakes and skull, bulging forth in the light. I gasped dropping his face.

"That's why isn't it?!" I asked, stunned. I grabbed his arm and pulled at it, pointing to the tattoo. "Really?!" I demanded, still upset.

"Evi – it happened this summer. I had to -,"

But I didn't hear the rest of his sentence. I was too mad to care. Great, Draco was a Death Eater. _I sure know how to pick em. _


End file.
